Commitments and Contingencies Insurance (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 2,572	$ 1,985
Estimated Insurance Recoveries	250
Commercial Paper, Bank Time Deposits, and Money Market Funds [Member] \| BNSF Insurance Company [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 507	$ 519

Amount of currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. Includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits. Also includes short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Excludes cash and cash equivalents within disposal group and discontinued operation.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
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Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
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Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
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